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A World of Gardens in Cape Town

SOME people travel to Cape Town to see Kirstenbosch, one of the great gardens of the world; some to see the spectacular scenery; some to feast among vineyards, orchards, wheat farms and fishing villages; some to bask in the sun during the northern winter; some to witness South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, and some for all these reasons.

Those who travel to Kirstenbosch know it as a treasury of unique flora, birds and history. I went during the off-season, on a family visit in June. On a crisp morning, I followed Rhodes Drive, where views of the harbor yield to vistas of distant mountains and the inland suburbs that enclose Kirstenbosch's thousand-plus acres of planted beds and conservation land. The most famous plant here may be the softly dazzling silver tree (leucadendron argenteum), native only to the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. Seeing one on a sunny lawn, I touched its leaves to test this vision of solid light. Firm as eucalyptus and pelted with fine hairs, it felt organic not mythic, but when I stepped away, the luminous tree seemed all halo again.

Botanists consider the area around Cape Town one of the world's six floral kingdoms -- and the richest in plant diversity, with some 8,500 species belonging to the South African, or Capensic, Kingdom. They compare this small area of the Cape peninsula to vast regions like much of North America, Europe and Asia.

For more than 20 years Kirstenbosch has taken the Gold Medal for indigenous floral display at London's prestigious Chelsea Flower Show, and on this visit, I passed a flock of its prize-winning Mandela's Gold, all-yellow birds of paradise, a strelitzia developed here. I found them near beds prepared for brilliant daisies and silky succulents (mainly mesembryanthemums). These beds trumpet color in August and September, the South African spring, in concert with the wildflowers that carpet the Cape from horizon to horizon. The poet Louise Bogan once asked, ''If there is no God, why isn't the universe dark brown?'' The Cape's sweeps of yellow, crimson, pink, magenta and orange suggest a deity drunk with spring fever. Even during my winter visit, the garden had color.

My favorite succulent was a finger of green (fenestraria aurantiaca) in the conservatory for plants of arid regions. It hides in the earth, showing only a tip of translucent cells, to protect the rest of the plant from the burning heat of the sun.

I sauntered up a brick walk to glimpse the huge range of the parent species of window-box geraniums. Virtually all pelargoniums come from South Africa, as do a large number of the other plants known to American gardeners. On the Pelargonium Koppie (little rocky knoll) some bloomed familiar scarlet, and here and there I sniffed a scented leaf.

Nearby, an herb garden displayed plants used for flavoring, healing and perfume, and, a few steps farther, a path curved through the Fragrance Garden with raised beds for touching and more sniffing. A party of children on a field trip passed me on the Braille Trail, where we explored textures of bark, leaf and the reedlike restios unique to the Capensic Kingdom. At the end of the trail, a bench suggested rest and a pause to listen to birdsong -- some rarely heard anywhere.

On other visits I have followed trails up Table Mountain. This time, I wandered to a spring in the Dell, where clear water collects in a bath surrounded by giant cycads, almost unchanged from prehistoric times, and flows singing and whispering down a stony bed. Historians now debunk the belief that Lady Anne Barnard, whose husband was the colonial secretary to the Governor of the Cape in the late 1700's, had this bath created -- she left Cape Town before it was constructed. But, when I passed lovers seeking seclusion, I saw that the spring needs no heightened romance.

Out of shade, climbing a sandstone path, I found myself among protea (the national flower of South Africa), erica and other fynbos, the network of fine-leafed bushy plants that have evolved to thrive in poor soil, drought, wind and fire. Some need smoke (but not heat) to trigger germination.

Soon, I came to the famous hedge of wild almond (brabejum stellatifolium) planted in 1660 by the first Dutch governor of the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck. He hoped to seal off this land, his own estate, from indigenous people who did not accept his European entitlement and ownership. Now, some read the hedge as a precursor of apartheid's thorny barriers.

Farther down, on spacious lawns, I saw families enjoying picnics near open ponds, contemplating sculptures from Zimbabwe, and strolling past beds strategically placed near the restaurant to demonstrate water-wise gardening.

I walked through an avenue of camphor trees planted in 1898 by Cecil Rhodes, the British-born magnate and empire builder, who was the last private owner of Kirstenbosch. I admired white plectranthus, and clivia, crinum and amaryllis, which give color throughout the year. Thousands of bulbs bloom in the species-rich Western Cape. Last on my itinerary was the elegant conservatory designed to spiral around a baobab tree.

Sometime I hope to return -- especially if it can be on a South African summer evening when, I am told, thousands of glowworms light this majestic sanctuary.

But Kirstenbosch is only one of many fine Cape gardens. Historic houses and wine estates frequently feature plantings around their clusters of white buildings with curved gables -- home, cellar, wine shop and, often, restaurant. The buildings are usually shaded by oaks that seem to rise from blue pools, actually plantings of blue agapanthus or hydrangea. Their airy rooms open to perennial beds of blue plumbago, spikes of salvia, silvery lavender and roses.

South of Kirstenbosch, at Klein Constantia, whose dessert wine is mentioned in Jane Austen's ''Sense and Sensibility,'' pink and white old roses grow at fences and at the ends of vine rows. Wine and roses keep company for good reason. Problems with the roses warn of diseases that attack grapes. But at vineyards lovely as gardens I could imagine them planted only to intoxicate with scent and velvet. Rows of autumn vine leaves glowed translucent in slanting rays of light, and I wondered what, anywhere, could match this golden world.

This world was never all golden. At Vergelegen (Set Far), near Somerset West, 30 miles east of Cape Town, extensive gardens contain an oak growing from an acorn taken from one of the last trees planted at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, a row of 300-year-old camphor trees and an octagonal walled garden. These are complemented by a formal rose garden, an herb garden, perennial beds, lawns and paths punctuated with urns. Only the Helderberg (Bright Mountain) nearby and the distinctive light of the Cape Peninsula remind visitors that these beautiful gardens grow in ''the fairest Cape of all,'' not in Europe. But, like several other Cape gardens, Vergelegen un-self-consciously features a slave bell -- much too close to apartheid for nostalgia. The site of the slave quarters is marked. Nothing else suggests what it took in human labor to make this grand estate.

A short drive from Kirstenbosch is Cellars-Hohenort Hotel, which comprises an 1869 house and other structures, some older, some new. Jean Almon took me around the splendid gardens that she directs. These nine acres take less from 17th-century geometry and more from Victoria Sackville-West's famous white garden at Sissinghurst in England. A circular bed of white roses near the entrance sets the tone. We walked to a reflecting pool, a knot garden, a rose garden, a small vineyard, a rustic garden, old camphor trees, woodland, a water garden, a citrus terrace, a potager, lawns and a stream. This is one of the loveliest English gardens I've seen.

English? An occasional plant like plumbago strikes a South African note, but this garden claims its peers in Europe. I was not surprised to find that a bed of fynbos at the parking lot, planted by Kirstenbosch volunteers, looked drab. Most South African gardens draw on Dutch and British traditions, use material from the old empires and have a recognizable colonial cast. Few seem as ardently imitative as this sumptuous complex.

Some newly self-confident South Africans are casting off colonial models and focusing on conserving local species. They talk of rooting out ''invasive'' or ''alien'' species (a policy encouraged by the Ministry of Water), and are more purist than Kirstenbosch about patriotic ecology. They often take unspoiled nature as an ideal. But it takes design skill to make this harsh environment yield refreshment or delight.

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Most Cape gardens express neither imperial disdain for the local flora nor local disdain for the imported. They emphasize relaxed pleasure -- open lawns, bright colors, shade, water and oak trees planted among blue flowers. One finds this arrangement even in the avenue that separates the Houses of Parliament from the gardens first planted by Europeans here in 1652. Those provided fresh produce for Dutch ships sailing to or from Asia. Today, vegetables have yielded to roses, camellias, trees, lawns and an aviary. Everyone is welcome.

One eclectic private garden did take my heart. Oude Nectar, near Stellenbosch, less than an hour from Cape Town, was created in the 1940's by Una van der Spuy as a jewel of quiet beauty. In midwinter, a golden Lombardy poplar reached high, a pond and circle of rose beds echoed the sky, a rose arbor invited walking, a tiled bench invited sitting, everything invited contemplation. No one in the gracious house on the hill or among the working gardeners asked my business in the bright stillness. It is a garden I would travel far to visit again.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden on Rhodes Drive in Cape Town, (27-21) 761-4916 or 762-9120, fax (27-21) 797-6570, is one of eight public gardens administered by the National Botanical Institute, www.nbi.ac.za, an organization dedicated to the conservation of the indigenous flora of southern Africa. Two other Institute gardens, the Harold Porter at Betty's Bay and the Karoo Garden near Worcester, are less than two hours' driving distance from Cape Town.

Kirstenbosch offers a broad range of activities and services ranging from guided walking tours (electric vehicles can be requested), lectures, courses and flower shows to sunset concerts (December to March). Wheelchairs can be reserved (free). Hiking trails lead up Table Mountain. Because of concerns about crime and accidents in this vast, sometimes steep terrain, hikers are advised to travel in groups of at least three people.

The easiest access to Kirstenbosch is by car or tour bus. A public Golden Arrow bus comes to the gate from Cape Town.

The garden is open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. September through March, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. April through August. The entrance fee (which includes parking) is about $1.75, at 6 South African rand to the dollar; students half price; seniors admitted free on Tuesdays.

Kirstenbosch has a large dining area divided into two restaurants. The Silver Tree serves lunch and dinner; the Fynbos has a buffet for breakfast and lunch. South African fruit juices are delicious, and there are traditional Cape dishes like bobotie (ground meat flavored with curry and covered with custard -- a South African moussaka).

.kleinconstantia.com. This restored vineyard abuts Groot Constantia, home of Simon van der Stel, an early Dutch Governor of the Cape. Although the setting is lovely, visitors are limited to daily wine tastings; there are no garden tours. Admission is free.

The Spier Estate, near Stellenbosch on R310 (Baaben Powell Drive), a half hour from Cape Town, (27-21) 809-1100, fax (27-21) 881-3634, www.spier.co.za, has rolling green lawns and English-style gardens. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; free. A vintage train operates on a limited schedule from Cape Town to Spier; information (27-21) 419-5222.

The site has picnic facilities; four restaurants serving snacks (including picnic baskets) and meals; a wine shop; an equestrian center with pony rides; a shop, and an amphitheater, where opera, dance and concerts are presented from November through March.

Vergelegen, a wine farm on Lourensford Road near Somerset West, 30 miles east of Cape Town, (27-21) 8471334, fax (75-21) 8471608, has extensive lawns, an octagonal walled garden and 300-year-old camphor trees. The 1700 thatched-roof homestead is now a museum. The entrance fee ($1.70), half price for seniors and children (under six free), includes parking, a wine tasting and tour of the cellar. A restaurant, Lady Phillips's, offers lunch and tea, for about $10; the Rose Terrace cafe overlooks a rose garden.

The University of Cape Town has a Web site with historical information on the estate, www.uct.ac.za/depts/age/resunact

/schools/vergeleg.htm.

The Cellars-Hohenort Hotel, at Brommersvlei and Hohenort Avenue, Constantia, (27-21) 794-2137, fax (27-21) 794-2149, www.cellars-hohenort.com, is set on nine acres of gardens at the base of Table Mountain near Kirstenbosch. If you are lucky, the designer of this lovely English-inspired garden, Jean Almon, will give you a tour. Appointments suggested. The hotel has 55 spacious rooms, furnished in English-country style, all with views (standard double $235).

There are two restaurants at the hotel: the Cape Malay Kitchen, which serves local dishes (set menu $20 a person), and the Novelli, with English and French dishes such as pan-seared breast of duck with apricot chutney ($20 a person, without wine). Tea and scones and cakes can be served on the lawn.

Oude Nectar, near Stellenbosch, is private property, but visitors can make an appointment to tour the grounds. Among its features are a rose garden and arbors and a formal pond on about three acres. For information call the Stellenbosch tourism office at (27-21) 883-3584, fax (27-21) 883-8017, which also has maps of wine routes in the area.

Where to Stay

Kirstenbosch is near one of Cape Town's most attractive hotels, The Vineyard, Colinton Road, Newlands, (27-21) 683-3044, fax (27-21) 683-3365. The 160 rooms are airy and clean with pleasant views. In season (November through March), doubles on the courtyard are $160 ($110 off-season); rooms facing Table Mountain are $213 ($145 off-season).

Cape Town has many smaller and less expensive accommodations. For information, contact Cape Metropolitan Tourism, (27-21) 487-2718, www.gocapetown.co.za or Cape Town Tourism, (27-21) 418-5202. ROSE MOSS